The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles (10 page)

D
r. Snowden inhaled deeply as he opened his eyes. It took a moment for them to adjust, and when they did, he scanned the room he was in. The rocky floor and walls indicated to him that he was in a room somewhere in the cave. The wooden bed he was on had a thick blanket of furs as a mattress.

A torch flickered on the wall, causing shadows in the room to jump.

He removed the thin cloth blanket over him and swung his legs over the side. Emily jumped into his mind. She was gone. The pit in his stomach deepened as he stood and stretched. He could hear voices farther in the cave. Running a hand over his chest, he remembered the pain he had felt earlier. It seemed to be gone. He shook his head. Another mystery. Great, just what he needed. He took a deep breath and exited the room.

Evaran and Lord Vygon sat around a pit fire in a large room. Like the room Dr. Snowden was just in, it had a rocky floor and walls. Various openings led off to other areas.

“You are up. How are you feeling?” asked Evaran, gesturing for Dr. Snowden to join him and Lord Vygon on a series of crude wooden benches around the pit fire.

Dr. Snowden ambled up to one of the benches and sat across from Lord Vygon and Evaran. “Pain’s gone … what happened?”

“You flew into a blind rage and your nanobots shut your body down to protect you,” said Evaran. “They were also trying to deal with the poison from the bolts, and your anger was exacerbating the situation.”

Dr. Snowden chewed on Evaran’s words. He thought his reaction was normal, given the circumstances. “Well … I had just seen Emily disappear …”

Lord Vygon raised a finger. “I can shed some light on that. We’ve examined one of the sentinel’s staffs. Evaran was right … again. It’s a teleportation weapon. Fire … and whatever it hits gets sent away.”

“Where?” asked Dr. Snowden with narrowed eyes.

Lord Vygon bobbed his head. “We did a test using one of Evaran’s quantum beacons, and shot it with the weapon. It terminated after arrival a few minutes later, so we suspect it was destroyed. Apparently, they are sending people to what you would know as Egypt.”

“Egypt? What the heck is in Egypt?” asked Dr. Snowden.

“I do not know,” said Evaran. “We will find out, though. I do not suspect Emily is harmed. If they had meant to kill, they would not bother with teleportation.”

Dr. Snowden exhaled from his nose and closed his eyes for moment. He opened them and looked at Lord Vygon. “You called them sentinels?”

“Yes,” said Lord Vygon. “These humans are the scouts of an unknown organization. They’re intelligent and trained for reconnaissance. I’ve heard reports from other nonhumans that they’ve been targeted by these sentinels. They seem to ignore humans, and for the most part, humans avoid them. One of my human friends actually talked to one and gathered some information for me a while back. Didn’t catch the organization’s name, but I know that they fight for human purity.”

“Sounds like the Purifiers,” said Dr. Snowden. Ring Commander Sheel flashed in his mind. “This is one human they better not try to talk to.” His blood began to boil.

Lord Vygon tilted his head. “Purifiers?”

“A human supremacist group led by an overlord,” said Evaran. “Their goal is nothing less than the dominance of humanity, and the purification of everything nonhuman.”

“That would validate what I know of them,” said Lord Vygon. “The fact you are here means you must have met them in the future and come back to this point. Am I right?”

Evaran tilted his head and eyed Lord Vygon. “Yes … I suspect these sentinels are just the vanguard, removing what they can while remaining hidden in the shadows.”

“Well, if these are the vanguard, I’d hate to see what comes next.”

“We need to find them. Make them wish they never set foot on Earth!” said Dr. Snowden as he stood with fire raging in his eyes.

Evaran extended a hand toward Dr. Snowden. “Relax.”

Dr. Snowden snorted and shook his head. “I just don’t need this right now.”

“We will find Emily and figure out what is going on with your anger.”

“How about this time you tell me when you find something out instead of waiting.”

Evaran paused as he studied Dr. Snowden. “You have my word. Now that you are up, we were going to question one of the sentinels.”

“All right then,” said Dr. Snowden. His eyes softened. “You caught one?”

“Yes. After we got you inside, we went back and caught them trying to take their fallen away. We let them go, except for one. Lord Vygon … convinced him to come with us.”

Dr. Snowden cocked his head.

“You shall see.”

“Good. Maybe I can convince this sentinel to bring back Emily.”

Evaran eyed Dr. Snowden. “Perhaps I should do the questioning.”

Dr. Snowden sighed.

They stood and exited the large room and walked through numerous hallways lit by torches anchored on the walls. After fifteen minutes, they arrived at a room with a makeshift wooden slab.

On the slab rested a strapped-down unconscious sentinel. The black clothing was gone, leaving a minimally clothed body. He wore sandals on his feet and had a leather loincloth. Leather straps crisscrossed his chest, and a segmented metal guard was around his neck. His clothing and weapons lay on the ground.

V hovered nearby. “Dr. Snowden. We will find Emily.”

Dr. Snowden swallowed hard and nodded.

“It would seem these sentinels have a small crystal implanted in their head,” said Evaran. “I cannot scan it or use my UIC on it, which is unusual. I do not know what its purpose is, other than it has tendrils that connect to the brain.”

“Okay … that doesn’t sound good.”

Evaran raised a finger. “It is not. Another thing that is odd is that I could not activate the staff. Lord Vygon had to instruct the sentinel to fire it at the beacon for us. I suspect the crystals have some type of bond I am unaware of.”

“Instruct?”

Lord Vygon smirked. “My hypnotic gaze. Ready to see it in action?”

Dr. Snowden shrugged. “Sure.”

Lord Vygon extended the man’s arm, and then bit into his wrist.

Dr. Snowden raised his eyebrows.

After a moment, the sentinel’s eyes opened. He looked at Lord Vygon. “Filthy nonhuman. What are you doing?” He scanned Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V. “You’re all going to die.”

Dr. Snowden scowled. “Yeah … keep talking …”

Lord Vygon put both hands on the side of the sentinel’s head, then gazed into his eyes. “You are under my command now. You will answer every question posed to you with as much information as you know. Do you understand?”

The sentinel’s face went blank. “Yes, my master, I understand.”

Dr. Snowden studied the sentinel. That hypnotic gaze was quite a powerful ability. He wondered if all vampires had it or if it was just an ancient vampire thing.

Lord Vygon stood back and gestured at Evaran. “Have at it.”

Evaran approached the slab and stood next to the sentinel. “Where are you sending the nonhumans you are targeting?”

The sentinel cocked his head. “Prison.”

Dr. Snowden swallowed hard. “What do you mean by that?”

The sentinel looked at Dr. Snowden. “Nonhuman filth is sent to prison.”

“Emily’s not filth! Where’d you send her?” said Dr. Snowden as his face turned red.

“Prison.”

Dr. Snowden’s eyes raged as he stepped toward the sentinel.

Evaran moved between Dr. Snowden and the sentinel. He placed a hand on Dr. Snowden’s shoulder. “Relax. Let me and Lord Vygon do the questioning.”

Dr. Snowden eyes smoldered. He leaned against one of the walls and crossed his arms.

Lord Vygon narrowed his eyes. “We know where you are sending nonhumans. Is that where the prison is?”

The sentinel pivoted his head toward Lord Vygon. “No.”

“How many sentinels are on Earth?”

“One hundred twelve.”

Lord Vygon’s eyes widened. “It’s worse than I thought.”

“I concur,” said Evaran. He faced the sentinel again. “What is the goal after all nonhumans have been eliminated?”

“Assimilation.”

Dr. Snowden smirked. “Well, that’s not happening.”

Evaran looked at Dr. Snowden.

Dr. Snowden looked away.

“How many have been sent to prison so far?” asked Lord Vygon.

The sentinel’s head wobbled for a moment. “Twenty-one.”

Lord Vygon glanced at Evaran.

The sentinel shook violently.

Evaran scanned the sentinel. “The activity around the crystal tendrils has increased significantly.”

“I’m guessing that crystal is trying to fight off the effects of my gaze. We should probably make him unconscious again.”

Evaran nodded as he pulled out his utility handle and extended it into a baton. He tapped the sentinel with the blue end of the baton, causing the sentinel to shudder for a moment, then go limp.

Dr. Snowden sighed. “So … Egypt?”

Evaran nodded. “Yes. We can head there now.”

“I’ll need to get a few things before we go,” said Lord Vygon.

“You wish to come with us?”

Lord Vygon smirked. “Of course. Someone has to watch out for you.” He looked at V and Dr. Snowden. “Nothing against either of you.”

Dr. Snowden shrugged and glanced at V, whose lights pulsed for a moment.

“Very well,” said Evaran. “You mentioned before that you did not want any temporal shielding.”

“Yeah … but now I know we’re fixing something that happened in the future. From my perspective anyways. If we were going to the past, that would be a problem. I wouldn’t want to be shielded if you fixed something in the past and then I met my double. Besides, my base is compromised now. I can’t stay here.”

“You know a great deal about time travel.”

Lord Vygon smiled. “I had a good teacher.”

“I see,” said Evaran as he studied Lord Vygon. “We can leave then when you are ready. V, bring the Torvatta here.”

“Acknowledged.”

Dr. Snowden sighed as he watched V fly off. He replayed in his head the scene where Emily was teleported. If he had controlled his anger, maybe he could have prevented the sentinel from firing at her, or at least went with her. Instead, he charged off like a mad bull. He swallowed hard as his eyes watered. He would find Emily, and it did not matter how many Purifiers he had to go through.

An hour later as the Torvatta approached Egypt, Dr. Snowden studied Lord Vygon sitting on the left side of the command area. He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask based on what he learned from John, but the unsettled twists in his stomach distracted him. All he could think about was where Emily was and if she was okay.

The Torvatta flew over the desert. Structures began to outline in green on the left front screen. Dr. Snowden watched the lights in the distance begin to grow. He knew Emily would have loved this. He glanced at Evaran and wished he could contain his emotions like he did.

“Analysis. The location the beacon flagged is ahead,” said V.

“Keep us in stealth mode. Standard scans,” said Evaran.

“Acknowledged.”

The right front screen lit up, showing a smooth triangular shape with labels around it.

“A shielded pyramid,” said Lord Vygon. “A bit out of place for this time period.”

Evaran scrutinized Lord Vygon for a moment, then focused on the front right screen. “You are correct. It is not yet the age of pyramids. Its presence here now may have had some historical influence.” He looked at his ARI. “V, there is not much data being retrieved.”

“Analysis. Shield is preventing penetration. Only visual is available.”

“Hmm,” said Evaran. “Then that is not a normal shield. We will need to monitor it and see if anything enters or leaves it.”

“So we have no way of knowing if Emily is down there?” asked Dr. Snowden.

“Not for the moment. However, the sentinels must be entering and leaving it somehow,” said Evaran. He faced Dr. Snowden. “Get some rest. We will run a continuous scan through the night.”

Dr. Snowden sighed and nodded. “All right.” He stood and headed toward the living quarters. As he passed Evaran, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You have my word that I will find Emily.”

Dr. Snowden gulped as his eyes misted. “I know.”

“In the morning, I would like to begin a training regime for your nanobots and anger issue.”

Dr. Snowden nodded and headed off to the living quarters. He was not sure what Evaran had in mind, but at this point, he was open to ideas. Something had to be done. He cursed not being able to control it on his own. Was he that weak-minded?

Growing up, it had shown itself in the form of fights he had gotten into with bullies at school. His friends gave in to the bullying, but he would get angry, then get beaten down when he fought back. That is, until his older brother, Dan, threatened the bullies. He missed Dan. Dan was always the steady rock he could go to. Dr. Snowden knew it was rougher for Emily. On Dan’s deathbed, he told Dr. Snowden to watch over Emily. Dr. Snowden sighed. What a great job he was doing. When he got to his living quarters, he went through the bedtime motions in a daze, then went to bed.

Ten hours later, he awoke and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. His stomach churned as he felt the heat from his body swirl around him. He half expected Emily to call him on the PSD and let him know she was having breakfast. With a deep swallow, he pushed himself out of bed and got cleaned up.